


reversal

by mairesmagicshop



Series: The Raven and the Dove [4]
Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Fluff and Smut, NSFW
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-20
Updated: 2018-08-20
Packaged: 2019-06-30 01:24:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15741273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mairesmagicshop/pseuds/mairesmagicshop
Summary: Julian and Maire take the Countess up on her offer to "freshen up" in her private bath and take it to the next level...





	reversal

**Author's Note:**

> Did I write a sloppily self-indulgent, fluffy, smutty take on the bath scene in Julian’s update? OF COURSE I DID. It was the only way to deal with my unbelievable thirst after the reveal of Julian's new CG.
> 
> I hope you enjoy.

The door clicks firmly behind us as I hear Portia giggle to herself, her footfalls fading down the hallway. I turn to Julian, looking up at him sheepishly, my lip between my teeth, and in an unguarded moment of the sheer surprise of it all, I laugh, relieved – we are alone together, finally. The room is warm, stocked in all corners with oils, soaps, towels and salts; anything a person would need for a luxurious bath. And beyond, the brilliant lights of the Masquerade filter through sheer curtains, filling the room with a soft glow. Countess Nadia’s bathing chamber is a wonder to behold, her offer for us to “freshen up” an oasis for our parched souls.

And as I glance at Julian, I imagine that even my mask cannot disguise the intention in my eyes.

For the Masquerade has been a sensual provocation in more ways than one. All that we’ve shared leading up to this point [the decadent food, dancing together on the table, Julian playing the vielle, my God! and losing ourselves in the music – each stolen glance and clandestine touch and my face feels hot thinking about what we did in the bubble room] were amuse-bouches, courses laying the table for the feast to come. And my appetite is whet.

He is uncharacteristically quiet as he returns my gaze, smoldering beneath his dark mask, and I feel as if he’s reading my mind as his lip curls up in a knowing smile. He runs a gloved finger across my cheek. “Lovely view, isn’t it?” he asks softly.

“The loveliest,” I answer, pulling off my mask. I reach up to help Julian remove his. He closes his eyes, nuzzling his cheek into my hand as I pull the mask away. He maneuvers off his boots one by one.

“Thank you, Maire.” His hands come to rest on my shoulders and he presses closer to me, pinning me against the door. “It’s, uh, quite hot in here, isn’t it?” His voice is low and smooth, a blush infusing his cheeks with color. “Whatever will we do about that?”

I laugh softly, looking up at him through my lashes as I reach for his collar. Slowly, deliberately, my eyes not leaving his, I loosen the silky red tie and unfasten the stays. He swallows hard as I part the sides of his shirt, my fingers trailing down his throat to his chest, uncaged desire jolting free within me. Julian draws his own hands up to rest over mine.

“That’s the right idea, Maire, well done,” he says with exaggerated approval and a saucy wink. But in the next moment he becomes more serious, though still sporting a tender smile. “If you told me before that I could be here with you…” He shakes his head, and reaches out to slip my shawl from my shoulders, sending a pleasurable shiver down my spine.

“If I told you that… then what?” I ask, tilting my face up to his.

He chuckles affectionately as his hands slide down my arms and he brings his face closer to mine, eyes fluttering shut. “I wouldn’t have believed it,” he whispers against my lips before claiming them breathlessly. “Then again,” he says, drawing back and taking my hand, “you’ve shown me that anything is possible.”

My heart alights at his words as he leads me over to a rack filled with ornate, gauzy robes. “Well, it took you long enough,” I say, goosing his backside a little harder than I’d intended.

“Hey!” he squawks, jumping forward. He whirls around on me, but his expression is playful, dreamy, his face still dewy and flushed. “Don’t start what you can’t finish, Maire.”

I pull his jacket off his shoulders and down his arms. “If that’s meant to be a dare, you know you needn’t bother,” my voice lilts flirtatiously.

He just laughs in response. “Yes, yes, I know you.” He turns me gently and begins to unfasten the row of buttons running down the back of my costume. “Every.” He presses a kiss to my neck, just below my hairline; another at the top of my back. “Little.” He kisses across my shoulders as his hands slip my dress down my arms, down my sides, down, down, down. I feel deliciously exposed as the fabric pools at my feet and I feel the warmth of him sliding down too, his large hands gripping my hips, breath ghosting against my lower back. “Bit.” I shiver as his tongue caresses me there, his lips closing in a heated kiss.

I turn around slowly, reaching down to lift his chin. He is so beautiful on his knees, waiting to serve, but he is still nearly fully clothed, and it is dreadfully warm in here for that. And I’m not sure exactly how much time we can spend together with the demands of the world outside haunting us even in here. Literally, I think, as my memory briefly returns to Lucio in his spectral form. I push him aside at once, focusing again on the unfathomable depths of Julian’s eyes.

“Come and stand, darling. You’re wearing far too many clothes.” He grins and complies. “Let me help you,” I say. I take my time, pulling his tie off first, his shirt next. “You look so dashing tonight.” I love watching him as I go, his lips parting in pleasure as I unfasten his pants and urge them down off his hips. I take a filmy black robe from the rack, help it over his shoulders and tie the embroidered belt. I step back and admire my handiwork.

“Don’t you look like the lord of the manor!” I exclaim.

He looks down at himself and opens his arms wide. “Excellent choice, my dear – but a lord must have his lady by his side!” He turns and takes a white robe from the rack. He cocks a wolfish eyebrow at me, miming a turning motion with his figure. Now it is my turn to be commanded, and as I turn he deftly wraps the robe about me, tying the waist from behind. He leans in close, lips playing at my ear.

“Now this is the life, isn’t it?”

I sigh, falling back against his chest. He kisses my neck before pulling away with a wide grin. “You can’t get luxury like this on a pirate ship, that’s for sure.” He turns his back to me and stretches out his long limbs, then begins poking around the bath. Colorful glass jars sit out on a copper tray near the edge of the water. Julian’s face lights up as he plucks up one of the bottles and sniffs at its contents.

“This!” he exclaims. “I’d know this salty tang anywhere!” He loses himself in delighted laughter. “Premium bath salts, straight from Nevivon! Ah, what a nostalgic smell!”

“We’re fortunate, indeed,” I say, unable to stop smiling. He’s so full of joy and my heart feels like it might burst as I watch him shake the bottle over the water. He surveys the others, taking a few more, and adds a dash here and there to the bath. Pale blue steam rolls over the surface of the water, filling the air with the scent of the sea.

“Oh darling, you have no idea,” he says lustily, testing the water with his foot. He steps in with a long, pleased sigh, sitting with his back to me by the edge of the huge tub. Running his wet hands through his hair, he sighs again, gazing over his shoulder at me. His voice is softer now, lower; an alluring invitation. “Come on in, Maire, the water’s fine.”

My breath hitches in my throat and there’s a quiver in my chest – I’ve never seen anything as perfect and beautiful as he is right now, waiting for me: his flawless skin glistening in the dim light, water dripping tantalizingly from his auburn curls, the muscled valleys of his back begging for my tongue to explore and claim them for my own.

His gaze follows me in, and he shifts to let me slip in next to him. I groan without thinking, so great is my relief as the hot water envelops me. Instinctively, my head falls back and I close my eyes.

“Can’t remember the last time I had a bath this nice,” he says. I feel his fingertips brushing over my shoulder, questioning and hoping. “And… it’s been even longer since I had one with such good company.” Opening my eyes, I take his hand and press a light kiss into his palm, smiling against his skin.

His eyes go wide suddenly. “That’s right!” he says. “I remember!” I look at him quizzically and he laces his fingers through mine. “You wouldn’t remember, would you? The time we spent before.”

I shake my head. “No, Julian. I sometimes have these odd feelings I can’t explain, but that’s the closest I get to memories from… from before.”

He looks at me with concern. “I’m sorry, Maire, is it painful for you to think about your past?

“With you?” I snuggle in closer, lifting his arm to wrap around me. “Not at all. Tell me! I know I worked as your apprentice but I don’t… I don’t know what else there is.”

He waggles his eyebrows at me suggestively before pulling me closer, kissing me on the forehead. Could we have been… could it be true?

“We were lovers,” he confirms, lost in thought. “Not straightaway, of course. We worked well together – you were… so driven, so intense. I was inspired by you – I wanted to be the best version of myself that I could be. I didn’t want to disappoint you.” He laughs awkwardly as I listen, rapt.

“We were working together all the time, but we just got on so well. We started spending more time together and I… that is, you and I were…” He pauses for a moment. “It’s funny, really. I’d been quite attracted to you from the beginning, really, but I swore to myself I wouldn’t act on my feelings, at least not without knowing if you might feel the same way.”

“So what happened then? How did we… when?” I can hardly form the words, ravenous for more details.

“The bath jogged my memory. We’d had a particularly hard day at the clinic and you were distraught. I wanted to take care of you, make it all go away.” He runs his thumb across my cheek and grins. “And you’d been quite flirtatious with me up until this point. There was no more time to waste – I had planned to confess my love to you that night. Except, being the minx that you are, you didn’t even give me the satisfaction of carrying out my plan!” He kisses me, hard. “I brought you to my house and we had dinner by candlelight. I’d drawn a bath earlier in the day that I didn’t end up getting into. And so I offered it to you.”

How strange it is for someone to describe a life you cannot recall, and I’m dazzled, I’m confused, thrilled and a million other things, it feels like. Thoughts start threading themselves through my head. Out of them all, the most comforting one is how bold I apparently was with him then, as I am now. These boundless emotions I’ve had with him, the feeling of knowing him for much longer, how quickly I’ve fallen for him… it all makes sense now. I smile at him.

“And I took it, did I?”

“Oh, you warmed it up with magic, first,” he says, eyes twinkling mischievously, “but you took it all right. Along with my virtue, as I recall.”

“Now that cannot possibly be true!” I sputter, laughing.

“Not entirely. But in any case, you told me you’d fallen in love with me – beat me to the punch, in fact.” He closes his eyes, smiling at the memory. “Ah, the weight that fell off my shoulders when I could finally tell you. As for the rest of the night, well…” He takes my face in both hands, eyes searching mine. “It might make you blush.” The insinuation itself sends a hot flush from my legs to the tips of my ears and I shudder, despite myself.

Perhaps mistaking my reaction, he speaks up again in a rush. “Is the water okay? Do you need anything, Maire?” He’ll stop at nothing to please me, bend over backwards in his attempts. I know he derives pleasure from this, but the man deserves to be pampered at least once in a while.

“Let me take care of you, for once.”

“I, uh… what?” He looks adorably confused, a deep blush spreading from the tips of his ears down to his shoulders. “But I’m fine, really, I-”

I reach up and press a finger to his lips. “That’s enough, now. You deserve to be cared for, too.”

“Well, all right, but…” I seal my lips against his, my kiss muffling any further discussion. He relaxes finally, melting into me, arms wrapping around my back.

“Sorry darling, old habits die hard, I suppose.”

“No need to apologize,” I say as I pull away, rummaging through some bottles near the edge of the tub. I need something subtle, not too sweet, maybe a bit masculine, and I stumble upon a perfume scented lightly like sandalwood. “They aren’t bad habits, Julian. Now come here. I’ll wash your hair.” He rushes over eagerly, water spilling over the lip of the bath. I give him a quick kiss before coaxing him around and further into the water. He sighs blissfully as I begin running my fingers through his curls, massaging the shampoo in, my fingers firm against his scalp.

“Is this okay?” he asks suddenly, opening his heavy eyelids slightly to peer up at me. “Should I move, am I resting on you too hard?”

“You’re doing amazing,” I say. “I mean it.”

“Am I? I, uh. Okay, then.” He closes his eyes again and I can feel the lingering tension in his body begin to dissipate as I rotate my fingertips out, then down to the juncture where his shoulders meet his neck.

“You’ve been working so hard. You can relax, too.”

“It never feels like enough,” he murmurs. I know that feeling, too. I reach out to take one of the flowers floating in the water and tuck it behind Julian’s ear. Then I lean forward, pressing a kiss to Julian’s neck, and speak softly against his skin.

“It’s enough.”

He looks up at me, reaches around to the nape of my neck, pulling me close. “Maire… thank you.” After he kisses me sweetly, I decide to chase my curiosity down the rabbit hole.

“So how was it for us, that first night in the bath?” I ask him. “Did we start much like this?”

“Yes, except the positions we’re in now were reversed,” he says, smiling, his eyelids fluttering. “I was at your service that night. Told you I’d do whatever you needed me to. You asked me to wash you first.”

The thought of Julian’s long fingers, slippery with soap, teasing over my skin nearly sends me reeling. As I look down, I realize these robes leave precious little to the imagination. I can see the outline of his lean legs through the diaphanous fabric, the angle of his waist as it disappears beneath the water, and the darkness of his sex beyond, just out of my reach.

“And did you?”

“Yes, I did. But ah, it made you a bit… excitable.” He smiles more broadly, his tongue running along his teeth. I rinse the shampoo from his hair, already feeling breathless.

“Well, that does sound like me. What happened then?” I pull him closer in until he’s resting between my legs, burning for him already.

“You asked me to touch you.” I kiss his neck as he arches his head back against me, letting him feel the hint of my teeth.

“Like this?” I bring my hands under his arms and around to his chest, lightly dragging my fingernails as I explore lower, until my hands are resting at the waist of the robe. Julian sighs sharply, a hint of a moan escaping with it.

“Bit lower, as I recall.” I can hear the naughty smile in his voice as he presses more firmly against me. I bite his neck in earnest now, and I untie the belt of his robe, my wayward fingers driven lower until I find his treasure in the depths. He trembles as I wrap one hand around him and stroke him, long and even and firm. My other hand finds its way up to his nipple, and I tease him, my mouth still working against his tender neck, drunk on every muffled noise he makes. “Maire, God…”

“And I did I moan so beautifully?”

“You cried out to the heavens and I loved every minute of it,” he gasps. “But please, Maire… I need you…”

“I’m right here, Julian…” He turns his head, sitting up slightly, and I capture his lips in a bruising kiss, releasing my grip on him.

“That night, you asked me to take you to bed,” he says, looking deeply, desperately, into my eyes. “Now I’m the one asking. Please make love to me.”

I lean forward and take his lip gently between my teeth before slipping my tongue into his eager mouth. “I’d love nothing more,” I whisper huskily against his lips. Out of the corner of my eye, I spot a chaise longue by the far windows – perfect. “And I think I have just the spot.” He follows the direction of my gaze and smiles.

“Last one there’s a rotten egg!” He vaults effortlessly out of the water, unencumbered by the wet robe. I almost protest, but I see it was merely a joke; he wraps a towel around his shoulders, leaving the rest of his lanky body wonderfully bared, and brings a towel for me. I let him slide the sodden robe from my shoulders, closing my eyes; he is kissing my damp skin, his tongue catching the drops of water running between my breasts. My body feels hot, a pot about to boil over, but his mouth is somehow hotter, and grazes lower, lower, until his soft tongue presses in and slowly down the sheath of me, over and over, He looks up at me, purring licentiously as he pulls me even closer; his hands come down my legs, reach up to my backside, and I can’t help but sigh as I press against him, the heat rising ever higher.

“Last one there… is a rotten egg…” I choke out as I pull back, and make a run for it, giggling all the way.

He catches me in two strides, hefting me over his shoulder and spanking me lightly for good measure. “You’re a rotten egg…” he mutters cheekily.

But there is no question of his intention, and he sets me down on the chaise, rising over me. I arch my hips to meet him and I am greedy, I need him – I guide him quickly, I’m impatient, and the urgency I feel is mirrored in his eyes. Our eyes widen together as we join, sighs of relief mingling together. We disappear into each other, mere ghosts of ourselves as we clutch one another tightly, driving each other onward. I tighten my grip on his back, my fingernails biting into his skin and he thrusts harder, a stab of pleasure radiating outward each time. We don’t have the luxury of time here, but I’ve decided that every minute for the rest of my life is his for the taking.

We cannot last much longer this way, too eager and heated as we are. The press of him on me is enough to start that gratifying chain reaction within me and I feel myself pulsing, squeezing Julian within. His body rocks against mine, head thrown back; he cries out, the evening light reflecting against the flash of his teeth as he comes. I gather him to me, his head buried in my neck.

“You feel so good, Julian.”

He kisses my neck gently. “The feeling is mutual, my dear. Feeling refreshed?”

I laugh, stroking his hair. “Like I could take on the Devil himself.”


End file.
